"They've been trash all year" - Paul Pierce calls Lakers 'dark horse' & predicts their chances to win finals
Speaking on the SHOWTIME Basketball show, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett spoke on who they think are the dark horses for the NBA title.
Paul Pierce ended up choosing the LA Lakers, who he believes have had a bad year but are still good enough to go all the way. The Lakers had a poor start to the season with injury issues and a lack of compatibility with Russell Westbrook.
However, they fought back to turn things around and enter the postseason with both LeBron James and Anthony Davis fit and firing. Despite being the seventh seed in the Western Conference, the Lakers have been given better odds of winning the NBA title than the Sacramento Kings, who are the third seed.
Pierce explained why he thinks the Lakers are the dark horses:
“The Dark horses right now, has got to be the Lakers. It’s got to be. They have been trash all year. Now all of a sudden, they are the dark horses to win it. Think about it. What are the odds of winning it right now? If you are not top-3 or 4, you the dark horses to win it.”
The narrative going into the NBA Playoffs has many of the top seeds as underdogs.
Are you rocking with @KevinGarnett5KG and @paulpierce34’s dark horse picks? 🤔 twitter.com/i/web/status/1… https://t.co/P1ZyJPSqbd
Kevin Garnett believes LA Lakers have a better chance at NBA title than Sacramento Kings
Kevin Garnett believes that the Sacramento Kings are not being viewed as potential contenders despite having two All-Star in De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis. He also claimed that while people might not believe the LA Lakers are good enough, they are still being viewed as genuine contenders.
The LA Lakers will go against second seed Memphis Grizzlies, who have a young and talented squad built around Ja Morant. The Kings, on the other hand, go up against the defending champions Golden State Warriors. Quite a few fans do not expect the team to go past Stephen Curry and company, let alone win the NBA title. Kevin Garnett believes that the Sacramento Kings are the actual dark horses:
“I am gonna take one of the top teams to be the dark horse. A lot of people are thinking that the top teams are not gonna make it. People are thinking at the back of their mind, the Lakers are not good enough to win it. You know who I think the dark horses are? The Sacs. Like once Sacs wins a game and a series in the playoff, I think people are going to change their mindset.”
For the first time in NBA history, all 4 California teams have made the playoffs 🤯
Their odds to win the title:
Warriors +950
Lakers +1600
Clippers +5000
Kings +8000 https://t.co/ui8FPqEXto